commences his great liistorj with a magnificent sur- vey of the Roman world under the Antonines; and he reckons the decline of the empire to begin with their immediate successor, Commodus — the eighteenth emperor, counting from Osesar as the first. I think De Quincey has successfully criticised this view of Gibbon — maintaining as his own opinion that "the empire itself, from the very era of its establishment, was one long decline of the Eoman power." ' In thus carrying the idea of decline back to the very inception of the empire, it appears to me that De Quincey is so far correct; but, for the reasons stated above, it would, seem that a still completer idea of the phenomenon of Eoman decadence is at- tained by dating it back to that great change in the civic character of the citizen which preceded the fall of the republic. This last appears really to have been the view of Montesquieu — although it is not expressed in the text with that degree of dis- tinctness which so capital a conception seemed to de- mand.
2 The Ccesars, Boston, 1854, pp. 146, \1%.
MONTESQUIEU.] OF THE ROMAICS. 197 CHAPTEE X.
COEETTPTIOIT OF THE EOMANS.
I BELIEVE that the doctrines of Epicurus — which were introduced into Eome towards the close of the republic — did much towards corrupting the mind and the heart of the Eomans." The Greeks had been infatuated with these doctrines at an earlier period, and they had also become sooner corrupted. Polyb- ius says that in his time oaths had no power to inspire confidence in a Greek, whilst the Roman was, so to speak, enthralled by the oath which he had taken.'
A fact is stated in the letters of Cicero to Atti- cus,' which shows how much the Eomans had ' Cyneas having discoursed upon these doctrines at the table of Pyr- rhus, Fabricius expressed the wish that all the enemies of Eome might adopt the principles of such a philosophy. (Plutarch, lAfe of Pyrrhus.')
2 " If you lend a talent to a Greek — with ten promises, ten sureties, and as many witnesses — it is impossible that he should keep his faith; but among the Romans, whether they have to account for public or pri- vate moneys, they are faithful — because of the oath which they have taken. The fear of hell, therefore, has been wisely established, and it is without reason that men combat it at the present time." (Poltbius, Book VI.)
' Book rV, Letter xviii.
]^98 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesqcieu.
changed in this respect since the time of Polybius. " Memmius," he says, " came to inform the senate of the agreement which his competitor and himself had entered into with the Consuls— by which the latter had engaged to favor them in their canvass for the consulate the year following, whilst they, on their part, had obligated themselves to pay to the consuls four hundred thousand sesterces if they should fail to furnish them three augurs who would declare that they were present when the people had adopted the law curtate^ — although no such law had been made — and also two ex-consuls who would affirm that they had assisted at the signing of the senatiis-con- suUum which had regulated the state of their prov- inces— although nothing of the hind had ever been done." How many dishonest men in a single con- tract!
Aside from the fact that religion is always the best guarantee we can have of the morals of man- kind, there was this in particular among the Eo- mans: they mingled some religious sentiment with the love which they bore for their country. That city— founded under the best auspices; that Eomu- lus— their king and their god; that capitol— eternal as the city — and the city as eternal as its founder — •• The law mriate conferred the military power of the governor, and the smatm-consiiUum regulated the troops, the money, and the officers which he should have charge of. In order that all this might work to their fancy, the consuls in question desired to fabricate a false law and a false senatzcs-co?isultum.
CHAP. X.] OF THE ROMANS. 199 had formerly exercised an influence upon tlie spirit of the ^Romans wliicli it were to be desired that they had continued to feel.
The greatness of the State led to the greatness of private fortunes. But, as opulence consists in manners and not in riches, the wealth of the Eo- mans, which admitted no bounds, produced an un- limited luxury and profusion in life." Those who were first corrupted by their wealth were afterwards corrupted by their poverty. With an estate above that of a private condition, it was difiBcult to be a good citizen; with the desires and the regrets which attend a great fortune ruined, men were ready for every outrage; and, as Sallust says,° we see a gener- ation of men who were neither able to possess patri- monies of their own, nor willing to allow others to retain theirs.
Meantime, however great the corruption of Eome may have been, she was not yet wholly corrupt; for snch was the strength of her institutions that, in the midst of her wealth, her effeminacy, and voluptuousness, she still preserved a heroic valor, and retained all of her devotion to war. This has ' The house which had cost Cornelia seTenty-five thousand drachms cost LucuUua, a short time afterwards, two million five hundred thousand. (Plutarch, lAfe of Marius.) (a) (a) Plutarch, in the place cited, reads for the last sum, 600,200. {Latighorne's trans.) — Translator.
« Ut merito dicatur gmitos esse, qui nee ipsi habere possent res fa- miliares, nee alios paii. (Fragment of Sallust's History, taken from the book of the City of Qod, Book II, ch. xyiii.)
200 GRANDEUK AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
not, I believe, been true of any other nation of the world/ Eoman citizens regarded comnierce* and the arts as occupations for slaves,' and did not engage in them. If there were exceptions, they were limited to some freedmen who continued in the pursuit of their for- mer occupations, but in general the Eoman citizen knew only the art of war, which was the sole road to offices and to honors; '° and thus it was that the war- like virtues survived after all the others were lost.
' This is but an illustration of the familiar saying — equally applica- ble to nations and to individuals — that "the ruling passion is strong in death." The speculative Greek of the Eastern Empire, absorbed with subtle theological disputations whilst his country was sinking to ruin, recalls the same national trait which had given immortality to the Acad- emy and the Portico. — Tkanslatob.
* Romulus allowed only two sorts of occupations to freemen — agri- culture and war. Merchants, artificers, tavern-keepers, and those who lived in rented houses, were not citizens. [Dionys. Hal., Book II; idem, Book IX.)
^ Cicero gives the reasons for this in his Offices, Book III.
'^ It was necessary to have served ten years, between the ages of six- teen and f orty-sev«n. See Polybius, Book VI.
BAKER.] OF THE ROMANS. 201 NOTE BY THE TEANSLATOE.
When we reflect How fundamental is the relation of industry to civilization, and consider in what low estimation the industrial vocations were held by the governing classes in ancient times, we cannot fail to realize the immense social interspace which, in this respect, separates the societies of antic[uity from the societies of the present day. What Montesquieu says at the close of the preceding chapter in relation to the industrial system of the Eomans was substantially true of all the ancient nations. Everywhere the tone of opinion among the governing classes strongly associ- ated industry with the notion of social degradation, and this for the obvious reason that aU the industries of the time were mostly carried on by slaves. Men's idea of work is but a reflex of their idea of the worker. If the latter is a slave, the former is re- garded as a servile employment; if a free and self- respecting man, the " dignity of labor " emerges into view.
As being the basis of the labor system of the Eomans, and of the ancient states generally, it is 202 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [bakeb.
essential that we should form a rational idea of the nature and extent of slavery as it existed in these old societies.
ISText to the dominant position occupied by war, slavery was the most prominent social fact of anti- quity, and it is easy to see that the relatively large proportions of both these interests in the ancient world were due to the relatively low status of the ancient societies. War and slavery, in the absorbing dimensions which they assumed in these early and immature communities, were but the natural out- growths of the existing social state, and the one was the primary basis and feeder of the other. The men- tal process by which the two were connected was short and simple. The fundamental idea of the law of war was that the victor might rightfully take the life of his captive. In saving him for enslavement, therefore, a milder was deemed to be substituted in place of a more rigorous measure of justice. Leaving ' aside all derivative and subsidiary sources of servitude, such was the tap-root of ancient slavery — the larger right, to Tclll, included the lesser one, to enslave.
This conception was not limited to the Komans; it appears to have been present among all the ancient peoples — especially during the earlier stages of their history.
Under the influence of this fundamental idea, aided by some cognate ideas which were variously associated with it in different countries — such as, that a man NOTE.] OF THE ROMANS. 203 might sell himself into slavery, that a father might sell his children, that certain offenders might be sold by the state, that insolvent debtors might be sold by their creditors, and that certain peoples might be en- ' slaved by reason of their mental inferiority — the an- cient states came to be surcharged with slaves. From the scattering statistics which have come down to us, taken in connection with numerous statements of the classical writers, it seems probable that the world con- tained quite as many slaves as free persons, and some particular states very many more. Athens, for instance, with a population of 21,000 citizens, is said to have contained 400,000 slaves; and the Helots were proba- bly seven times as numerous as their Spartan masters. But that great power which absorbed so many nations will best represent the state of the world in general; and the E,omaa empire is reckoned to have contained 20,000,000 citizens, 40,000,000 provincials, and 60,- 000,000 slaves. Some single Eomans are said to have possessed as many as 20,000.
During nearly seven hundred years of Eoman his- tory the master was an absolute despot — being clothed by the law of his country with- a power of life and death over his slave which was unlimited save by his own will. It appears that no legal restraint whatever was imposed upon this power until the passage of the lex Cornelia de sicariis, under the dictatorship of Sylla, in the year 81 before Christ. Thence under Claudius, Nero, Adrian, Antoninus Pius, Severus, Con- 204 GRAJfDEmi AND DECADENCE [baker.
stantine, and Justinian, there was an increasing legal interference with the private power of the master; whilst, in another direction, the Christian church con- tributed its powerful aid in amelioration of the con- dition of the seryile class, not only by infusing the spirit of the new charity into the lives of men, hut also by excommunicating those who dared to execute their slaves without legal warrant.
How low was the state of conscience among the higher class of Eomans in respect to their slaves may be inferred from a few representative facts. Tacitus, who is so terrible in his arraignment of tyrannical emperors for the cruelties which they inflicted upon patrician families, coolly approves an atrocious decree of the senate, in accordance with which, if a master of a household should be killed by any of his slaves, all the slaves of the same household who might happen to be made free by the master's will should equally suffer death. The prasfect Pedanius Secundus having been murdered by one of his household slaves— of whom there were 400 — the whole number were condemned to death in conformity with Eoman law, the senate, upon full consideration of the frightful hardship of the case, deliberately refusing to relax the savage rigor of the rule. To the credit of the populace on this occasion, they assembled tumultuously in defense of the inno- cent slaves, and forbade the execution of the sen- tence; nor could it be carried out until the military were summoned to the scene; and then the mournful HOTE.] OF THE KOilANS. 205 group, of all ages and both sexes, were marched to their death between lines of soldiers.
Roman masters appear to have made a very free use of fetters. Many of their field slaves were made to work in chains. Italy abounded in underground workhouses, in which chained slaves toiled at the miU; and the participant of Eoman hospitality, in the polite age of Augustus, was met at the threshold of his host by a chained slave in company with a chained dog. It appears not to have been an uncom- mon custom to carry old or sick slaves to an island in the Tiber, and there leave them to die of starva- tion.
Especially in view of the vast preponderance of slavery in the ancient societies, and the relatively low sense of humanity with which it was tempered, we can very safely accept the comprehensive conclusion of Hume: " But, to one who considers coolly on the subject, it will appear that human nature in general really enjoys more liberty at present in the most arbi- trary government of Europe than it ever did during the most flourishing period of ancient times."
Kesolving all history into fovu' great periods, we detect a progressive change in the general condition of the working classes.
1. During the first period, which may be regarded as coextensive with ancient history, we have just seen that the industrial classes of the world were chiefly slaves. The dominant military spirit, combined with 206 GEANDEUB AND DECADENCE [bakee.
that law of war wHch transmuted the prisoner into a slave, had everywhere developed an immense ser- vile population— upon which the work of society was principally imposed. All the great material monu- ments of this period are closely associated with servile toil. The Eoads of Rome, the Pyramids of Egypt, the Eock Temples of India, the Cyclopean Walls of Phoenicia, were mainly the work of slaves.
2. During the second period, which should be reckoned as coextensive with the Middle Ages, thus extending from the close of the fifth to the close of the fifteenth century, the serf had taken the place of the slave in the states of Europe.
3. During the third period, which should he made to reach from the close of the fifteenth to the close of the eighteenth century, the free oitizen with small political influence had taken the place of the serf.
4. During the fourth period, which opens with the American and French Eevolutions, and extends to the present time, the free citizen with an in- creased measure ef political influence has taken the place of his immediate predecessor.
Of course the end is not yet. The proof is evi- dent that this vast movement, of which nations have been but elements, and whole epochs but single steps, is still heading in the same direction, and that too with quickened pace.
In the light of this series of ascensive changes — thus displayed upon the broad field of the world's N0IE.1 OF THE ROMANS. 207 history — we are not only enabled to determine the comparative values of the industrial systems of the past and the present, but also to pronounce with much confidence upon the fundamental meaning of that spirit of unrest and tendency to increased self- assertion which, in our own time, pervades the in- dustrial classes of Europe and America. This last fact — which is one of supreme social moment — ^is so far from being abnormal that it is only to be viewed as proof that the great progressive movement which I have sketched — and which is eminently humanita- rian and moral — is still going on.'
■ For the facts stated in the preceding Note respecting ancient slavery, see Hume's FhilosopldcaL WorTcs^ Boston, 1854, vol. iii, pp. 415-425; Institut. Just., lib. i, tit. iii, 3, and lib. i, tit. vii, 2; Cooper's Jiistinian, pp. 410^12; Adam's JRom. Ant, Phila., 18'72, pp. 23-29, 134-135, 3S9 and 379; Gibbon's Rome, eh. ii; Tac. Annals, Book XIII, ch. 32, Book XIV, chs. 42-45; Maine's Ancient Law, N. Y., 1864, p. 157; Anthon's Clas. Die, art Helotce; Chambers' Enc, art. Slavery; and for the law of slavery among the Jews, see Exodus, ch. xxi, 2-11, ch. xxii, 2-3; Leviti- cus, ch. XXV, 39-54, and II Kings, ch. iv, 1; and for some profound views concerning the rationale of ancient slavery, see Comte's PMloso- pkie Positive, Paris, 1S69, torn, v, pp. 134-139, 148-149, and torn, vi, pp. 67-68.
208 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
CHAPTER XI.
STLLA. — POMPET AND C^SAE.
I PEAT that I may be permitted to turn away my eyes from the horrors of the wars of Marius and Sylla. Their frightful history may be found in Appian. In addition to the jealousy, the ambi- tion, and the cruelty of the two chiefs, every Eoman was furious. The new citizens and the old no longer regarded themselves as members of the same republic;' and they carried on a war against each other which, from its particular character, was at the same time civil and foreign.
Sylla enacted three laws which were very well calculated to remove the cause of the disorders which we have seen. These laws increased the authority of the senate, tempered the power of the people, and regulated that of the tribunes. And the fancy ' As Marius — with a view to obtaining command in the war against Mithridates to the prejudice of Sylla — had, with the assistance of the tribune Sulpitius, distributed eight new tribes of Italian peoples among the ancient ones — a measure which rendered the Italians masters of the ballot — it resulted that the latter were mostly of the party of Marius, whilst the old citizens were of the party of Sylla.
CHAP. XI.] OF THE ROMANS. 209 wHch prompted Mm to abdicate the dictatorship seemed to restore the life of the republic. But, amid the frenzy which had attended his successes, he had done things which rendered it impossible for Home to retain her liberty.
In his Asiatic expedition he had ruined all mili- tary discipline. He had accustomed his army to rapine,' thus giving it wants which it had never be- fore felt; and, having once corrupted the soldiers, it was inevitable that they in their turn should after- wards corrupt their officers.
He had entered into Eome sword in hand, and had thus taught Roman generals to violate that asylum of liberty."
He had given the lands of citizens to soldiers,* and thus rendered them covetous for the future; ' for from that moment there was no longer a soldier who did not look for an occasion which might place in his own hands the property of his fellow citizens.
He had invented the Proscription, and set a price ' See in the Conjuratione de Catilma the portrait which Sallust gires of this army.
' Fugatis Marii copiis, primus urhem Romam cum armis ingresms est. (Fragment from John of Antioch, in the Extract of Virtues and Vices.)
* A part of the lands of conquered enemies had, indeed, at the begin- ning been distributed; but Sylla gave the lands of citizens.
' [Confiscations, even while enriching accomplices, only convert them into malcontents and ingrates. From the moment they begin to possess something, they begin to regard the troubles and disorders of the state as insupportable; and all authority which is not placed entirely in their own hands they regard as usurped by others. (The Advocate Geno-al Servan.)]
2]^0 GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
upon tlie heads of ' tiiose who were not of his own party.' From the time of the introduction of this practice, it was impossible for the citizen to attach himself longer to the cause of the republic; for, placed between two ambitious leaders who contended for ascendency, those who were neutral, and who adhered to the party of liberty, were sure to be proscribed by the one of the two who might be conqueror. It was therefore the part of prudence to join the one or the other.
There came after him, says Cicerp,' a man who, in an impious cause, and in the achievement of a victory yet more shameful, confiscated not only the wealth of private individuals, but involved whole provinces in the same calamity."
In laying down the dictatorship, SyUa appeared to be only desirous of living under the protection of his own laws. But that act, which indicated so much moderation, was itself a sequence of his vio- lences. He had established forty-seven legions in di- ' See my Note at the end of tbis chapter. — Translatok.
' Offices, Book II, oh. viii.
* The statement here attributed to Cicero is more severe upon Caesar, and less discriminatingly just, than the words of the former import. The following is the actual passage of Cicero: Secuhts est, qui in causa impia, victoria eliam fmdiore, non singulorum civium bona publicaret, sed universas provincias regionesque una calamitatis jure comprehenderit. " He was followed by one who, in an impious cause, and in a victory yet more abominable, did not confiscate the property of individual citizens, but involved whole provinces and regions in one common calamity." The clause which I have italicized indicates the correction which ia needed in the text of Montesquieu. — Translator.
CHAP. XI.] OF THE KOMANS. 211 vers places ia Italy. These soldiers, says Appian, regarding their fortime as contingent upon his life, watched over his safety, and were constantly ready to succor or to avenge him.'
It being inevitable that the republic should per- ish, it was only a question as to how and by whom it should be overthrown.
Two men who were equally ambitious — except that the one did not know how to proceed to his end so directly as the other — effaced all the other citizens by their credit, their exploits, and their virtues. Pompey appeared first; Caesar followed him closely.'"
In order to draw upon himself the popular fa- vor, Pompey procured the abrogation of those laws of Sylla which limited the power of the people; and when he had thus sacrificed to his ambition the most salutary laws of his country, he obtained all that he desired. The temerity of the people knew no bounds in their admiration of him.
The laws of Pome had wisely divided the public power among a great number of magistracies, which mutually supported, checked, and tempered each other. As all these magistracies were depositaries of only a limited measure of power, every citizen was eligible to them; and the people — being used to seeing many personages, one after another, pass before them — did ' We may note what happened after the death of Csesar. ■" Pompey was about six years the senior of Caesar; the one was born B. c. 106, the other b. c. 100. — Tkanslator.
212 GKANDEUR AOT) DECADENCE [montesquieij.
not become accustomed to any one in particular. But, at the time of wHcli we now speak, the system of the republic had changed. The most powerful men induced the people to give them extraordinary com- missions— commissions which annihilated the author- ity of the magistrates and of the people themselves — and which placed all grades of affairs in the hands of one man or of a few."
Was it necessary to make war against Sertorius? the commission was given to Pompey. Against Mith- ridates? all cried out for Pompey. "Was Pome need- ing a supply of grain from abroad? The people regarded themselves as ruined if Pompey had not charge of the business. Was it resolved to destroy the pirates? Pompey only was capable of doing it. And, when Caesar threatened to march upon Pome, the senate in its turn raised its voice for Pompey, and felt no hope except in him.
" I really believe," said Marcus " to the people, "that Pompey, whom the nobles follow, would rather secure your liberty than their domination; but there was a time when each of you had the pro- tection of many, instead of all having the protection of one — a time when it was unheard of that a single mortal possessed the power to give or take away such things."
Among the Eomans, whose poKty was adapted to " PleUs opes immilutce, paucorum, poteniia crevit. (Sallust, De Ccmjuratione Catil.)
" Fragment of SallusVs History.
CHAP. XI.] OF THE ROMANS. 213 self-aggrandizement, it was necessary to confer honors and power upon the same persons — that which, in times of pubhc trouble, might serve to fix the admi- ration of the people upon a single citizen.
"When honors are conferred, we know precisely what is given; but when power is added, we can- not say to what extent it may be carried.
Excessive preferences, extended to any one citi- zen in a republic, are always attended by certain necessary effects: they either excite the envy of the people, or increase beyond measure their love for the popular favorite.
On two occasions Pompey returned to Eome mas- ter of the destinies of the republic; but he had the moderation to disband his armies before entering the' capital, and to present himself therein in the charac- ter of a simple citizen. These acts — which covered him with glory — determined the senate afterwards to declare steadily in his favor — notwithstanding all he had done to the prejudice of the laws.
Pompey was actuated by an ambition which was slower and more moderate than that of Caesar. The latter, like SyUa, was willing to obtain sovereign power by armed violence; but this style of oppres- sion was not agreeable to Pompey. He aspired to the dictatorship, but he wished to obtain it by the suffrages of the people. He would not consent to the usui"pation of power, but he desired that it might be placed in his hands.
214: GRANDEUR AND DECADENCE [montesquieu.
As the favor of the people is never constant, there came a time when Pompey saw his credit di- minish;" and— what touched him verj sensibly — he saw the increasing credit of men whom he despised, and who employed their growing influence against him. This led him to three courses of action which were equally destructive.
He corrupted the people by the use of money, and put into the elections a price upon the suffrage of each citizen.
Further, he engaged the vilest of the populace to disturb the magistrates in the exercise of their func- tions— hoping that the orderly citizens, thus left to live in a state of anarchy, would make him dictator from despair.
Finally, he united his interests with those of Cae- sar and Crassus.
Cato said it was not the enmity of these men that ruined the republic, but their union; and in fact Rome was in such a wretched condition that she was less hurt by the civil wars than by the ensuing peace, which, by uniting the views and the interests of the principal leaders, was nothing other than a state of tyranny.
Properly speaking, Pompey did not lend his credit to Caesar, but, without knowing it, he sacrificed it to him. Yery soon Caesar employed against him the very power which he had received from him, and " See Plutarch, Life of Pompey.
CHAP. XI.] OP THE ROMANS. 215 even liis own artifices. He disturbed the city by bis emissaries, and rendered himself master of the elec- tions. Consuls, prsetors, tribunes, were purchased at the prices which they placed upon themselves.
The senate — which clearly comprehended the de- signs of Csesar — ^had recourse to Pompey, and prayed that he would take upon himself the defense of the republic — if, indeed, we may call by that name a gov- ernment which asked for protection at the hands of one of its citizens.
I believe that that which above all ruined Pom- pey was the shame which he felt at the thought that, in elevating Cffisar as he had done, he had been wanting in foresight. He yielde(f as slowly as possi- ble to this idea; he did not place himself in a state of defense, in order that he might not have to admit that he had placed himself in danger; he maintained to the senate that Csesar would not dare to make war; and, because he had so often said this, he con- tinued to repeat it.
It seems that one circumstance had put Csesar in a position to undertake all. This was that, by an unfortunate conformity of names, Ganl beyond the Alps had been joined to his government of cisalpine Gaul.
Policy did not permit that armies should be sta- tioned near Kome, and neither did it permit that Italy should be entirely stripped of troops. The con- sequence of this was' that considerable forces were 216 GRANDEUE AND DECADENCE [mootesqdieu.